M to S

It is that part of the year were one has to start using sunscreen lotion and stop applying moisturizing cream. The temperature was above 70 F today and I enjoyed the moment of free walk without wearing those heavy winter jackets, leather gloves and ear mufflers.

No Bar

We are still living in the old Indian tradition when it comes to marriage. Generations have passed but we still continue the same trend of marrying people within our caste. I am not sure why our parents are so insistent to get married to someone from the same religion, caste and region. I am not even sure how many of our parents would accept us marrying to someone from a different family tree. Such meaningless restriction to inter caste marriages makes no sense to personalities like me who is a follower of great Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi. Survival with anyone after marriage is possible if one follows the three rules of marriage that is true love, unshakeable trust and deep understanding. One can find specification for castes, religion in many matrimonial sites and new paper, eagerly waiting for the arrival of that day when one can see adds stating "No bar" for the bride/bridegroom. At least Americans don’t bother much about caste and religion in marriage matters. I had a discussion on this topic with few of my friends this evening.

Made it

My day started with the hum of "Give me some sunshine" song from 3-idiots movie.
I kept humming this song for the whole day. I thrummed so many times that even my biz partner started to hum along with me in the office. He is a kind of person who never even opens his mouth even to talk; I need to pat myself for making someone sing this song along with me. That was one of the greatest achievement I made today.

PlayMate

It was amazing to watch someone practicing with playmate machine in the adjacent court. More details from the following site:

http://www.playmatetennismachines.com.au/contents/en-us/d17_Playmate_Tennis_Ball_Machines.html

Directions

How easy it would be to ask for route directions from a nearby tea shop, petrol bunk and stranger walking in the street? You will reach the destination without any delay provided all of the above people guided you appropriately. What if you kept circling the street from left to right, north to south and later figured out you were in search of the building that was standing right in front of you from the point where you initially started from? Won't you be bit annoyed? That's exactly what people in U.S try to avoid. Google maps or GPS or hand written directions is a must to someone who is trying to explore a new place in U.S. Quite often one can not find people on the roads to direct you to reach your address. If by any chance you forget to take your directions the only option would be to call your friend to know your next move on the road. I did a on call support for one of my friend this afternoon.

Convincing

Two of my friends are completely preparing me for august. After a long time people we talked about this topic again. Their conversation changed my opinion a bit. They have convinced me to do something in August. I too hope things would go fine.

Started to

When I stepped in software industry I had lots of grudges to work, as I never like working late nights, typing documents and adhering to process audits. I hate myself when I am unable to spare time with my parents and siblings as quite often I get critical production defects on their birthdays or special occasions. I never like having junk foods in the cafeteria whenever I need to fill in my stomach. I hate to carry the work tension home. I hate “word of mouth” concept in software industry. I hate spoiling my health by skipping meals just to meet the project deliverable dates. I hated lot other things in my job.

But now after mingling and meeting people from different experience level on the client side, I have completely understood the "importance of loving one's work". As people say anything you love only makes you think on the positive side and love always springs up energy in oneself no matter for how long you work. Ten people in my work area have strongly influenced me to fall in love with my job which I once disliked. Now I have started to thoroughly enjoy every single task I do in this industry.

Feels Like

Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil, I heard a mix of languages today evening. People flowed in our house from 4P.M. I love being with a big group and today was just extraordinary. Though each of us was from different region we still felt as if we belonged to the same house. I had a feeling as if I was living with my aunts, brothers, sisters, nephew etc. It felt like a Friday night to me, after having dinner with my folks. After everyone left we felt as if the house was empty and still. Having many people at home even for a momentary time makes a lot of difference in the merriment level.

Very Shortly

In next few weeks I would be having breakfast with my favorite women tennis player. Bit excited to meet her.

Racquet Story

Two years back I visited one of my relatives in California for a two days trip. We got up late in the morning as we roamed around and reached home late every single day of my stay. I decided to buy a reasonable rate tennis Racquet from California before starting to my place. Our plan was screwed up as we had no time in the morning to pay a visit to any nearby shop. I didn't even have time to get ready; I rushed in the car, exceeded speed limits and hurried to the airport to catch my flight at 12.15P.M. My tension hyped on seeing the long queue in the airport security check. I spent close to 30-40 minutes in the checks and formalities. I finally reached the boarding area at 11.45 a.m. People were dwelling in the flight and when my turn came, the flight attendant announced all seats in the aero plane was full and there was no more seats left in the flight. I was shocked to hear this message. The flight entrance door closed and I stood there watching the flight take off. I quickly moved to the help desk to inquire why I got bumped out. I saw couple others asking the same question to the attendant. As there was an error in the booking system the flight got overbooked. Since the mistake was on the airways side, they paid us a gift voucher of $300 and also arranged tickets for our destination flights through different airlines and routes. I got a ticket to MN via Las Vegas and my flight time was at 9.45 P.M, which means I had to wait for about eight hours in the airport. I quickly called my relatives in CA to pick me up from the airport. I had my lunch and in the evening we visited Costco to get the tennis racquet. After having dinner I headed back to the airport with my racquet in one hand. My aunt and uncle teased me by saying that I just got bumped out of the plane to only get my tennis racquet. I was not sure why things favored me so much to purchase a tennis racquet from CA. However in today's match I realized my racquet was growing old and it was high time to get it changed.

Comedy Thriller

I like handful of Tamil movies of which "Saroja" is one. I was pulled to watch this movie after hearing few dialogues. Though I watched this picture only after intermission, the movie still spun with lot of twists and turns. Every moment was thrilling and fun filled. I didn’t move an inch and was guessing what was about to happen next. I really loved watching this movie. I would strongly recommend people to watch this movie if they hadn't watched this comedy thriller film since its release date in 2008.

Understanding

It is difficult to strike this one with everyone in life. It is sometimes even shocking, when we know at later point of time that a person who is very close to you has misunderstood you completely. Nowadays I don't bother about how much people understand me, as all that matters is how much I understand myself. People who care for me will understand me and others who don't care I needn't worry much, as already they don't play a significant role in my life.

Friendly Smile

When I landed in U.S, an American guy smiled at me and said "Hi". I was sure that I have never met him in the past and didn't even remember seeing him before. After spending many days in U.S, I realised people here are very friendly. Americans in general pass a genuine smile and convey a hi to any alien. So if you hear some American saying "hi" don't ever think about "who that person is", just say a "hi" back and keep moving.

Impulse of Love

I was just about to enter the office door in the morning and I saw two people kiss each other in the car. Such things are very common in U.S. Americans generally are very impulsive when it comes to emotions including anger and hatred.
One good thing about Americans is that they never control their momentary inner feelings in front of the crowd. If someone did the same thing in India, people would only scorn at you. As Indians are known to express their feelings only to their dear ones that too in an enclosed surrounding free from knowns and unknowns.

Enthu

My enthusiasm level rises every time I meet someone who shows tremendous amount of interest in teaching me something new in the areas that I have never ever stepped into. I interacted with this person only for three days. He has 33 years of coding experience and he loves to talk and questions about assembly languages. Of course I always have difficulty in getting along well with techy people in the first met as I belong to the opposite group. After knowing his keenness to code, I got little bonded to his technology interest. This client of mine has a sparkling eyes and readiness to challenge technical things even in fifties. His ebullience not only makes me interested in the project and but also makes me get into the learning mode. One thing I noticed in U.S employees is that they are very honest,punctual and planned with anything related to work task. I feel very lucky to meet such personalities in my life.

U Decide

My only energy today was the following message from Pravsworld forwarded by my friend as I absolutely lacked zest for the whole day.

You are the person that has to decide; Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside.
You are the one who makes up your mind; Whether you’ll lead or linger behind.
Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s far; Or be contended to stay where you are.
Take it, or leave it. Here’s something to do; Just think it over. It’s all up to you!
What do you wish?
To be known as as shrink, known as a good person who’s willing to work,
Scorned for a loafer or praised by you boss, rich or poor, beggar or thief?
Eager or earnest or dull through the day, honest or crooked?
It’s you who must say!
You must decide in the face of the test
Whether you’ll shrink it or give it your best.

Expressive

According to me there are five categories of people. First category people express their opinion bluntly without worrying about other person's feeling. Second mass of people chew everything at your back. People belonging to second category generally convey awful comments at the back of others and never have the guts to express it straight. Such people try to play safe and ensure to protect their reputation. Third set of people never ooze their true feelings to others. No one knows what these people think and feel about things in life. Fourth category of people know their limits of where and where not to express their thoughts and when and when not to drag the conversations. Fifth group of people have no personal views but fall in line with other's judgment.

I am still figuring out which group I should belong to when expressing my comments to others.

Early Summer

Today afternoon I can't express how happy we all were when we saw the snow free Conway court. The temperature was in 60's and in all directions, I either saw people jogging or cycling or standing outside their houses. No more jackets and gloves required as one can walk in light clothing’s for a walk. Though summer appeared bit early this year, we are just glad for the fact that we can play some free tennis from this week.

Wii Sports

I had a taste of Wii sports and fitness today. It is just superb.
For more details checkout the following site:

http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/1OTtO06SP7M52gi5m8pD6CnahbW8CzxE

Virus

The word sounds familiar to me; it is the nick name of college dean, Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe in 3-idiots movie. What a terrific personality he was in the movie. Scientifically "Virus" can easily spread from one person to other through air/water and cause many noxious diseases in human beings. Technically "Virus" can crash your entire PC. One of my friends was trying to open few files from my roommate's mobile memory card. In couple of minutes he shut down the machine and my roommate inquired why and he replied that my roommate's memory card was infected with virus and conveyed the exact message "VIRUS DETECTED".
She laughed and said it was the name of the folder in her memory card. Her intention of naming it with the word "Virus" was to frighten others and ensure that her data was secured in the storage device. Undoubtedly an innovative thought to name folders differently.

Happy Place

I visited one of my happy place. It was just amazing to meet new people.
Last year I was a mere spectator and this year I am a participant and probably next year I might win too. Had a great time today evening. I am slogging while posting this blog as the time is 2.49 A.M.

Mist

Snow started to melt and one can see a patch of green grass in the lawn. In the morning I found the weather was foggy accompanied with drizzles. It was cloudy and there was no sign of sunlight. Seeing the weather outside, I only felt like taking off from office to just sleep at home for the whole day. There was slight chillness as the temperature has already started to hit the positive scale. While returning back from office, it got bit darker and the view through the glass door made me feel that mist had made the natural surroundings appear more scenic and cool.

Name Tag

When I was in India, I have heard lot about divorces, splitting of families, switching gal/boy friends and chilling out with cold beer in U.S. And this culture is now rapidly spreading in India where it is quite common to see people get divorced within couple of years after marriage. Gone are the days when people tolerated and lived with one person throughout their life even if fate tied them to the cruelest wife/husband. In the current generation, if one can not adjust or get along well with their life partner, people immediately break up. I had many wrong perceptions about the relationship that each American had for their family members. I thought American's never cared about their parents and kids.

But after visiting many cubicles at my client location, I realized American's are very close to their families and friends. One can see photo's of spouses, parents, kids and friends placed on any Minnesotan’s desk working for my client. Most of my American colleagues have the photos of their kid’s attached to the name tag. Today one of my colleagues had placed a recent snap of his kid in the name tag and we were surprised to see how much his daughter had grown in the past 8-9 months. He got excited when we inquired about his kid and started showing more pictures of his daughter from the laptop. My American friends take leave from office when their kid or parent is not feeling well. Americans undoubtedly have a strong attachment and feelings towards their family.

There are lot of good things that we Indians should adopt from American culture rather than blind following the paths of pubs, divorces and costumes.

Last Minute Rush

I really had a crazy day walking to office on the floating ice and setting up the meeting room. Things got screwed up unexpectedly in many occasions and I was very upset till the afternoon. I made up my mind and proceeded with the next meetings. By the time I reached home I was jaded and wanted to relax at least for an hour or so. My wish was shaken when my friend called me to inform about the reminder mail sent by our captain. I was not willing to play today as I was totally drained and had lot other work to be completed by EOD. I dialed my captain’s number and later understood her position. I changed my mind and got ready for the match in five minutes. Cooking, calls and mails kept me busy at the later part of the day. Last minute unexpected changes were a real test for my attitude and flexibility today.

F full

Only interesting job I did today was arranging the bulk of vegetables in the fridge.
Our fridge was totally packed with lots of things and I had to find space for the new ones. I pulled few things here and there and finally accommodated everything in the fridge. In U.S, few rental apartments have the provision for fridge, electric stove, air conditioner and microwave oven. Though such things are not part of any rental house in India. Life is easy for any new comer in U.S as one has to only arrange for mattress and utensils. Everything is pretty well-organized and systematic in U.S starting from an electricity or internet connection.

Reaction Time

I have never enjoyed tennis as much as I did today. Finally I got a chance to participate in tennis pizza party, organized first Saturday of every month. I was little doubtful about my stamina as after more than two years I was committing to play for continuous three and half hours. I entered the court with mild headache, right arm and back pain. At the beginning I served pretty slowly and couldn't run much. As time progressed I started to improve my serve and rallies. I paired with six different partners, as we had a shuffling after eight games. Couple of games was competent and fast paced. There was absolutely no time to chill out during the matches. Reaction time to each shots are very short, if we don't concentrate much during the shots there are high chances to get hurt badly. As few of the players against whom I played had an magnificent serves, volley and angled strokes.

I really loved to talk and interact with the following personalities during the break times:

Katie - Coordinator of this party. My God her high energy level and cheer ups kept the momentum of our play.
Bob - my first U.S mixed doubles partner. He introduced himself as a poor tennis player and said he was associated with tennis only for five years. He was of my dad's age. As we started to play I realized that Bob was an excellent player. I loved Bob's low esteem attitude.
John - He appeared very exhausted and said he slept only for six hours last night. He was feeling sleepy during the match. I missed up lot of net shots and we were losing crucial points. Every time I left a shot, he would console me by saying "No problem, good attempt". I liked his supporting behavior when things absolutely went wrong.
Sean - His serves were awesome, I found it very difficult to break his backhand serves. 99.99% of his first serve was inside the service box. He was 39 years old but looked like a 25 year old guy. I played against him thrice with three different partners. His cordial behavior gave everyone a comfortable feeling. Later I came to know that he was a 4.0 player. No wonder I was unable to compete against him.
Hin - This guy from China had wussy appearance. My god he was so swift in returning the balls from all corners of the court.

Even at 11 P.M i.e. the closing time, people were very hesitant to leave the court. I met many crazy people who were extremely passionate to play tennis even for the whole night. I had an amazing tennis experience with such wonderful players.

Curiosity

Curiosity not only sharpens ones intellectual capacity but also triggers others to think deep. One of my friends fired couple of thought provoking questions to us during evening snack time, but none were willing to answer as we were all in the weekend mood. I knew the answers for couple of questions posed, but remained silent as in the past I have argued on the same question with one of my colleagues and we spent hours in finding those answers. Curiosity is something that we never encourage in others, but it is one of the most powerful weapon that can change life up side down i.e. make the impossible possible. If Henry Ford was not curious to know why it was not possible to create unbreakable glass for car windshield, we wouldn't have enjoyed safe car rides now. Einstein is another scientist who followed the path of curiosity and emerged successful. Sometimes we might not find time to dig in the details but it is important to always keep ourselves thirsty for curiosity.

Sense of humor

After many months I got a chance to travel with this friend of mine. She always has a charming smile. Her talks are usually filled with witty jokes and unfastened comments. In our momentary car journey in the morning, she was complaining about her husband's workaholic behavior at home. Day and night he keeps working on the spreadsheet and she continued that she will not be surprised even if her hubby named their baby as "MS" (mng service)or "SOW" (statement of work). I burst into laughter on hearing this one. It is generally said women lack sense of humor and are pretty ignorant to funny stuffs in life. But I have come across many women who have thought me the importance of being jovial and playful. Now she is one among those light personalities.

Wat a Chng

There was a time when I never talked to anyone in my mother tongue. Even if people posed me questions or conversed with me in Tamil I always replied back in English. Many, for that fact even thought I was a non-native Tamil speaker. Many still tease me for talking in English during work hours. Some even say I display ostentation. I ignored everyone’s comment as I was just following my small accomplishable goals in life. As I wanted to improve my English speaking fluency, I traced out all possible occasions where I can talk to people in English. And office was one of those special spots. In today's meeting one of my friends who is a Tamilan asked me a project related question in English and I replied him back in Tamil. I can’t believe it is me who has changed so much in two years span.

Gratitude

I should be thankful to this friend of mine who introduced me to Toastmasters.
Her speeches always displayed enthusiasm and patriotism. Though my friend is extremely busy, she is quite smart enough to accommodate time for toastmaster meetings. It is bit difficult to prepare oneself for speeches when one is swirled with 24*7 support requests, but she quite often comes up with something extra-ordinary to satisfy her support tickets and complete her speech manual. I paid my last gratitude to her today afternoon for all that she had done for me through direct or indirect means.

Sunglasses

On the way to office, the car stopped in the middle of the road for a second, as we could hardly see anything ahead of us. The front view from the car was completely blocked with intense brightness from the sun. I could only see yellowish color windshield hindering the view of the objects on our way. The car moved inch by inch till we got rid of the brightness. In the past, I have made fun of my friends for doing show off's by wearing sun glasses. But after visiting Florida couple of years back, I understood the importance of sunglasses. Summer will start very soon and it is recommended to have one set of sunglasses to protect our eye pupils besides being fashionable.